I recently visited Philadelphia for the first time as a stop on a sort of Grand Tourof theNortheastand Quebec, which I undertook following my sister's graduation from Princeton. To date, the only states that I haven't visited in the lower 48 are located along the East Coast... except for North Dakota. Even those East Coast states that I had previously visited are not states in which I've spent much time. I'd been to New Jersey just once, New York just once, and Miami a few times. I've also been informed by several Northeasterners that Miami does "not count." I respond with a quote from Posdnuous, “Characters have the tendency to con themselves/ To think the East Coast is only New York and Philadelph.”

I would also elaborate that fact that whereas Miami is in geographically located on the coast of theAtlantic, the only coastlines in Pennsylvaniaare those alongthe Delaware Estuaryand Lake Eerie-- which ispart of the Midwest Coast. I'll stop short of suggesting that Pennsylvania is more truly Midwestern than East Coast even though there are some apparently pronounced cultural similarities between Pennsylvania and the states of the Midwest and Upper South. (*cough* Pennsatucky *cough*).

Most of my childhood was spent at the other end of the coal and rust belts, in Kentucky and Missouri (aka “The Pennsylvania of the West”) but I had few strong associations with Philadelphia beyond those formed by Colonial history lessons in school and the cartoon, Fat Albert & the Cosby Kids, at home. I also vividly remember the MOVE bombing (the subject of a recent documentary,Let the Fire Burn), which, along with the intro to The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, painted a darker image of at leastWest Philadelphiabut did little to influence my presumptions in very concrete, immutable ways.

One of Philadelphia's slogans is “The Birthplace of America,” which while it highlights its historical importance, it could also have the unintended consequence of suggesting that its best days are located in a mythic, long gone, 17th Century Golden Age. Historical information reminds visitors that among its many firsts: the first American flag, first brick house (in the US), first printed almanac (in the US), first hospital (in the US), and charming Elfreth's Alley is the oldest continually-inhabited street in the country, it's home of the first brick building in the US. That's all well and good but what of the 21st Century Philadelphia?

Most of Philadelphia today has the sort of decidedly urban aura that I sort of assumed all cities possessed when I was growing up: crumbling brick factories with broken windows, vertical building-scaling fire escapes, steam coming from stuff underground, &c. Despite its name (or perhaps because of it), I was surprised to find out that it's the birthplace of the seemingly inauthentically urban clothing chain, Urban Outfitters, founded in 1970 as the Free People Store. There were parts of it that seemed so forsaken that my girlfriend noted it seemed a bit 28 Days Later. Later research into Philadelphia's zombie film connections proved that it was a filming location for World War Z. But make no mistake, Philadelphia is a vibrant city and one that seems to be showing signs of recovery rather than further decline.

In some ways Philadelphia is an the archetypical Rust Belt city. As with most of the aging industrial cities that were part of the so-called “Foundry of the Nation,” the population and importance of Philadelphia declined for many decades as people moved away from city centers and manufacturing jobs were moved overseas. Back in 1790, Philadelphia was the second largest city in the US (after New York). In the early 1800s it was eclipsed in population numbers first by Baltimore, then New Orleans, and finally Boston.

As a result of the 1854 Act of Consolidation, Philadelphia's borders expanded and only in doing so restored it to the number two spot. The 1930s saw the first population decline, not just in Philadelphia, but also in St. Louis, Cleveland, and Boston. In the latter half of the 20th century, roughly 55,000 Philadelphians moved out of the city – a decline which finally began to reverse by the 2010 census, which gave evidence to the city's first growth in sixty years.

In other ways, Philadelphia is rather unlike other Rust Belt cities, most of which were eclipsed by newer metropolises in the Sun Belt-- even with decades of decline (and recent growth), Philadelphia remains one of the US's largest cities – the nation's fifth largest, in fact (coming in behind the Sun Belt's Houston), and the tenth largest on the continent (coming in behind Ecatepec de Morelos).

Bladen's Courtyard

Despite my love of visiting neighborhoods, I was only in Philadelphia for about 24 hours (staying around Callowhill) and thus only able to see a few corners of it aroundCenter City including the Avenue of the Arts, Chinatown, Elfreth's Alley, Franklintown, Hahnemann, Independence Mall, Jeweler's Row, Logan Square, Market East, Olde City, Rittenhouse Square, Society Hill, and University City.

Society Hill

Philadelphia is a diverse city, the population of which is 44% black, 37% whiteAnglo, 13%Latino of any race, 7% Asian, and 3% of mixed race. Ethnic enclaves include (in addition to Chinatown) the French Quarter, Germantown, Italian Market, Koreatown, and Little Saigon. Port Richmond has a large Polish population, Fairhill and Hunting Park are largely Puerto Rican, Devil's Pocket and Pennsport/Two Street are very Irish, and Washington Square West is known, affectionately, as a “gayborhood.”

Food is high on the list of almost any visitor's priorities and I like to explore local cuisine as much as I can whilst remaining vegetarian. Probably the most iconic Philadelphian culinary creation is the Philly Cheesesteak; a steak, onion, and cheese sandwich which I do remember enjoying when I still ate meat – although I suspect that the sandwich's fans might bristle at the fact that it was from the hoagie chain Blimpie, where I worked as a teenager in Tampa.

After lugging our stuff across the bridge from 30th Street Station to City Center, I was craving light and healthy, which we found at Pure Fare. For supper -- and although it specializes in the Hu cuisine of Shanghai rather than that of Philadelphia -- the "Chinesey" aromas of Chinatown took hold of our appetites and Dim Sum Garden hit the spot.

Having so little time to explore, I aimlessly wandered around the streets of Philadelphia as much as I could. At night I found them to be surprisingly empty, rarely crossing paths with any other souls. There were a couple of sports bars with people gathered in their patios and near their entrances. On a darkened sidewalk I saw a woman walking alone pant-hooted at by a troop of crotch rocket-straddling broboons. Most of Center City felt surprisingly deserted, though, compared at least to Downtown Los Angeles or Brooklyn.

Philadelphia has a long, rich, frothy tradition of boozing – in 1752 the city enjoyed access to 120 legally-licensed taverns. Out of respect for history, I popped into Park Side Beef & Ale, where I grabbed some Yard's Philadelphia Pale Ale for take-out. Philadelphia also has a reputation as the city of brotherly love but I was still warmed by the fact that two separate strangers told me to make sure that my beer was cold as the cooler had just been re-stocked.

PHILADELPHIA IN MOVIES

Another way to get a sense of a city, albeit usually filtered through a distorted lens, is by watching movies. Probably the most Philadelphia film of all time is Rocky, which is also the first film I recall seeing in the theater – a Kentucky drive-in. Rocky was, of course, followed by five sequels. One of my former roommates, Nibbles, could recite every line of the first four (even the Russian parts of the fourth).

I tried to find The Young Philadelphians orThe Philadelphia Story online to no avail. I did, however, find The Philadelphia Experiment, which I utterly failed to get into. I then found the blaxploitation film, Trick Baby, which was more immediately appealing but after having by then walked quite a bit and consumed the better part of my six-pack, I quickly nodded off.

Other Philadelphia-set films include A History of Violence, A Kiss Before Dying, Alpha Girls, America: A Call to Greatness, The Amati Girls, The Answer Man, Baby Mama, Big Fan, Birdy, Blow Out, Clark: A Gonzomentary, Clean and Sober, Dare, David and Lisa, Devi, Downtown, Fallen, Fat Albert, Fighting Back, Final Shot: The Hank Gathers Story, 42, From the Terrace, Gia, The Greening of Whitney Brown, The Happening, The Happiest Millionaire, Her Only Child, The Husband She Met Online, In Her Shoes, Inventing the Abbotts, Invincible, Just Wright, Kitty Foyle, Lady in the Water, Law Abiding Citizen, The In Crowd, Love Hurts, Maximum Risk, Money for Nothing, My Architect, National Treasure, Neighbor, Next Day Air, The Old Maid, Pride, Renegades, 1776, Shadowboxer, Shooter, Silver Linings Playbook, The Sixth Sense, State Property, State Property 2, Stealing Home, 10th & Wolf, That Midnight Kiss, Train Ride, The 24th Day, Two Bits, Up Close & Personal, The Watermelon Woman, and Worth Winning.

PHILADELPHIA ON TELEVISION

I already mentioned that I used to watch Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids – I also have several Bill Cosbystand-up records on which Cosby shares stories of his old gang – but I haven't knowingly watched any other Philadelphia-set television shows other than It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, which though popular amongst some of my friends struck me as so gratingly shrill and dudebro that I would say that I was subjected to it rather than that I watched it. I also, in researching the city, watched part of an episode of Family Ties in which Alex P. Keaton has a crazy dream.

Finally, both because Amoeba is primarily a music store and because there is so much of it, there's the music of Philadelphia to consider. It's my view, too, that the music that emanates from a place generally reveals a lot more about its soul than almost any Hollywood film could ever hope to.

One of the oldest songs pertaining lyrically to Philadelphia is Francis Johnson's 1818 song, "Philadelphia Fireman's Cotillion.” Johnson was a composer and virtuoso of both the keyed bugle and violin. He was also the first black American composer to have his music published as sheet music. Though born in the West Indies, he later resided and died in Philadelphia.

I hope that I can come back soon and explore more of Philadelphia's neighborhoods, food, and attractions so let me know if you can help that happen. If you'd like to read my adventures in Southern California, check out California Fool's Gold -- and follow Eric's Blog.